Four Heirs: Four Lives
by malfoyforever
Summary: Scorpius is calm and aloof, he's always been. So why is he is so nervous? Oh, yeah, he's about to propose to the most beautiful and annoying girl he's ever met, the love of his life... The final snapshot into the lives of four Malfoy heirs. COMPLETE.
1. Abraxas

"I think," she said finally, "that all of us have got our ghosts."

-Spoken by Delilah Piggett, from _Salem Falls_

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><p><strong>Abraxas.<strong>

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><p>Abraxas Malfoy raised the whip over the cowering boy, rasping, "And why can't you associate with blood traitors, boy?" When his son didn't answer, the whip descended upon Lucius' back, quickly yet harshly, making the boy cry out in pain. "<em>Answer me<em>!"

A tear slid down the lad's cheek. "I can't associate with blood traitors, Father," he said, his voice stronger than one would have thought. "Because I'm a Malfoy, and I'm above all of the scum." _Please, let this end._ "Father, please, I understand now! I won't speak with any of the filth anymore, because I am automatically their superior!"

Abraxas was satisfied. Taking back the whip, he tossed it into the corner and stalked out, leaving his boy crying in his bedroom. _I know you hate me now_, Abraxas thought, _but you'll be grateful once you're older. _It was true. None of his parents had saw fit to teach him the horrors of the world; to tell him that one minute, you might be gazing adoringly at your wife's baby bump, only to hold your newborn son in your arms and resent the child that took your love's life; that if he'd known at least one bit of his wife's fate, he would have lived his years with Anastasia as if she'd die the next day, just to have the moments for a longer-lasting eternity.

She'd been so beautiful, Abraxas thought reverently, his long fingers stroking the cover of _A Genealogy of the Distinguished Wiltshire Clan of Malfoy_. During her entire pregnancy, she'd been positively radiant, glowing, clichéd as it was. None of them had known that her life would end the same day Anastasia would give life; none of them had known that she'd die of an internal haemorrhage, too quickly for the Healer to save her.

At the back of his mind, Abraxas knew she would hate him, if she knew what he was doing to their baby. At the back of his mind, Abraxas knew that he loved his son, even though he was the enemy, Anastasia's murderer. At the back of his mind, Abraxas knew that his logic these days was faulty, but when would the bitterness stop?

It'd been seven years – perhaps it was time to let go.

His stomach clenched at the very thought. Did he want to forget Anastasia, any part of her? It was hard enough that some mornings, he woke up perfectly happy, though he shouldn't be; it was hard enough knowing that Abraxas often needed to think for a while before remembering her distinct scent. Anastasia was the love of his life, and would always be; letting go would giving up.

Abraxas was a Malfoy; he didn't _do_ defeat. Yet again, he was probably being selfish; but what would you do, if your wife of two years had died from bleeding nonstop, in horrid pain, and your baby, your little boy, was the perpetrator?

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><p><strong>Yet another piece on the Malfoys! Well, I did say I was fond of them, didn't I? :D <strong>

**To be honest, I kind of feel sorry for my version of Abraxas... But more for Lucius. It's pathetic, really, for an older, stronger man to beat his damn son just be because he _can_. **

**Anyways, next up is Lucius! :) **

**Please read and review, especially if you favourite/alert! **


	2. Lucius

**Before we begin, thanks to NevilleBamf and Emily Mae for reviewing! :) **

**NevilleBamf: Thank you! Yes, me too as you can see, because I believe that no one is born evil - not even Voldie. **

**Emily Mae: Thank you! As I said above, no one is born evil, so Lucius would have to have at least one reason to turn out the way he did. **

**And without further ado, here's Lucius' story! **

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><p>"After all, how many of us had tried to forget something traumatic... Only to find it printed on the back of our eyelids, tattoed on our tongues?"<p>

-Jodi Picoult, _Change of Heart_

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><p><strong>Lucius. <strong>

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><p>"Does it hurt, Father?" Draco Malfoy asked his father, crossing his legs as they sat in Lucius' study. "Getting the Dark Mark, I mean?"<p>

_Did it hurt? _Yes, Lucius thought, his fingers coming instinctively over the small of his wrist. He remembered the burning agony of the Dark Lord's wand, coming over his forearm; he remembered the cruel scarlet eyes of his master, amused and delighted and relishing in his new servant's pain.

He remembered the first time he was summoned by the Dark Lord, how his newly healed mark had stung; and then the mission at that pub in Knockturn Alley that had ended with a murder. His disgust at the body of the bartender flashed in his mind; he could suddenly smell his vomit and the Floo powder and the cigarette smoke on Rabastan Lestrange.

And then his study swam, and he found himself staring at the angry face of the Dark Lord, cowering against his master's raised wand; thinking about how awfully ironic this all was, when he had joined in part to escape his father and then had found himself a new father figure, just as volatile; and then he remembered Rabastan Lestrange bringing in that Muggle girl, just a teenager, really, and dumping her at his feet.

He was an eighteen-year-old teenager again, staring at the girl with apprehensive grey eyes; pushed by the Dark Lord, he fell to his knees and was told to draw his wand. Obey, he did; and then Voldemort ordered him to kill her, dispose of her, murder her in cold blood. "_Lucius Malfoy_," he'd hissed, "_If you're really a worthy Death Eater, if you're really intelligent enough to survive, prove it to me_."

Well, Lucius was certainly shrewd, as a Slytherin should be; and that night, yes, he committed murder for the first time.

Snapping back to the present, Lucius stared at his son, still innocent and young and _so_ alike himself; and then he knew for a fact that if the Dark Lord rose, Draco would join his father's master, no matter what.

No parent wanted their child to do that; but what parent wanted their child beaten, tortured, murdered, or raped? These were all things that were above one's power; and if the Dark Lord had owned Lucius, he'd own Draco, too, once the time came.

So Lucius answered his son, tilting his head. "It hurts, yes, Draco," he drawled, "but you'll soon get used to it, with the things to come."

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><p><strong>Ah, Lucius *shakes head* <strong>

**Even though I dislike racists as a rule, Lucius is my favourite Harry Potter character - weird, right? I mean, in real life, we don't usually do character studies of people we meet - which is why we judge before we try to understand, I guess. But for characters, I always seem to have found complex ones fascinating - maybe because it's more fun to find out what drives them than with characters like Harry, whose motives are more simple and, say, innocent. **

**(If you didn't understand the above paragraph, you can ignore it. That was just me, er, rambling. Yeah. Rambling.) **

**Following the logical order, next up is Draco! **

**And, lastly, please read and review, especially if you favourite/alert! :D **


	3. Draco

**First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed! :D **

**Vue Lorner: Well, here he is - hope you like his story! **

**Silver'ssong: That was the whole point of it... Kidding :) Thanks for the compliment! **

**Mittenzzs: Thank you! **

**Emily Mae: Yeah, I agree... on all counts. Snape is also a personal favourite of mine... He used to be my very favourite, but then I discovered *cough* wonders *cough* of Lucius' character and... The rest is history :D **

**Now, here's our one and only Draco Malfoy! :D**

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><p>"Oh, no. It costs a lot more than your life. To murder innocent people?" says Peeta. "It costs everything you are."<p>

-Spoken by Peeta Mellark, from _Mockingjay_

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><p><strong>Draco.<strong>

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><p>Draco stared at Dumbledore, at loss for words.<p>

For the past year, he had been desperately plotting the murder of the old man in front of him. For the past year, he had been thwarted again and again, by both his enemies and his comrades. For the past year, he had been forced to grow up and bear the burden of his father's line of work, because Lucius had _stupidly_ landed himself in prison.

At first, Draco had been proud of being a Death Eater. Proud and excited. How glorious would it be, to rid the world of Mudbloods and Muggles and all the other scum his father and mother had denounced for his entire life! How glorious would it be, to march through the streets of Diagon Alley, parading in his special robes and mask!

Then, he learned the truth the hard way: _nothing_ about murder was glorious. He learned that it may be easy to kill a man on the physical scale, but that even non-compassionate Draco Malfoy couldn't take an innocent man's life. He learned that it scared him, failing, because that meant that everything that mattered to him would come tumbling down, like a fortress wall during a siege.

He learned that reality was far from the high life he'd been living since birth; that reality could let you down again and again and that its cruelty still wouldn't stop. He learned that reality was being tortured by the Dark Lord whenever his plans failed; that reality was Professor Snape breathing down his neck, warning him against the consequences of his impetuousness. Reality was Aunt Bella laughing and dancing over dead bodies; Borgin shrinking away from the dark set of the Mark against his pale skin.

Reality was doing his best to survive in a world that was wrong, wrong, and wrong; reality was losing himself whenever he contemplated making a move against Dumbledore. Reality was keeping his family safe at all costs and staying strong, whether he liked it or not.

Draco had matured in the past year. He had lost pride, won pride, and been tossed about. He knew about loss, about sacrifice, about fighting for what he believed in, and how hard it was to stay true to oneself in the face of temptation.

Truth was, though, Draco wasn't too sure who he was anymore.

And so he did what he did best: he nodded once and lied to himself, telling himself that this was the solution. That he'd be dead in the Dark Lord's ranks by tomorrow, anyway, so it was no use hesitating. That Dumbledore must be better than his master, because he was pretty damn sure that the old codger didn't torture his own followers.

Draco Malfoy's wand hand shook; and then, slowly, he lowered his would-be instrument of crime.

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><p><strong>Well, we know what happens next... A bunch of Death Eaters come in, harass Draco into killing Dumbledore, and then Snape somehow appears - and Dumbledore is dead, anyways :( <strong>

**To be honest, Draco is another of my favourite characters... but I don't really read stories about him, because a lot of Draco-lovers seem to like bashing Lucius (in their defence, they had to blame Draco's corruption on somebody... and why not his one and only evil daddy?) and, well, this chica doesn't like reading about her favourite character being bashed, nope nope nope *shakes head* **

**And which brings me to another point: the belief that Draco was abused, emotionally/physically/sexually by Lucius. **

**I don't really believe in that... because if Draco was the little abused kid, he wouldn't be worshipping his daddy and bragging all around about him. Now, there was this one incident in Knockturn Alley - you know, "if his marks don't pick up, he won't fare any better than a thief or a plunderer" - but according to Wikipedia, _one little incident_ is not emotional abuse. Plus, I've been pushed by my mother for my marks, in the like of that... and I can tell you for a fact that it's not abuse. **

**And with what Lucius went through during his childhood (at least my version of him), do you really think he'd take a belt and beat the hell out of Draco? **

**Oh, and the sexual abuse... I am quite certain that Lucius is not attracted to little boys sexually... especially not his own son. **

**Rambling aside, please read and review, especially if you favourite/alert! **

**Next up, and last up, is Scorpius! :D**


	4. Scorpius

**Sorry for the late update! I was busy for the last few days... **

**Thanks to Emily Mae and Mittenzs for reviewing! :D **

**Emily Mae: Yeah, Draco does strike me as the type to think something like that... After all, his dad is always complaining about blood traitors and all that jazz... Why would he think any differently about getting rid of the "scum"? **

**Mittenz: Thanks! Hope you enjoy this chapter :) **

**Now, without further ado, here's our last story: Scorpius'! **

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><p>"Magic. It was magic, and the magic is called love. I love you, Lindy."<p>

-Spoken by Kyle Kingsbury, from _Beastly_

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><p><strong>Scorpius. <strong>

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><p>Scorpius Malfoy hovered in front of Ron Weasley's office, uncertain of how to proceed. It was quite bizarre, all this nervousness: Scorpius could throw hexes and curses in the duels without ever so flinching; spoke of the atrocities committed by his family during the wars with an impassive face and a cool tone; he was known for his calmness, outward as least, because even though he was the wayward Malfoy, the black sheep, he had the genes for that.<p>

Presently, though, his palms were sweating; his face was hot, and even though he hadn't seen himself in a mirror on the way upstairs, he knew it had turned pink. His stomach was positively churning; a strange kind of rushing was pulsing through him, most probably adrenaline.

Besides mass murderers and rapists and other criminals who were known for endangering lives, Scorpius could only name one other person who'd give him this type of reaction.

She was beautiful, though he might have been a bit biased, her golden brown hair falling in corkscrew curls and her grey blue eyes big and puppy-like. Her nose was freckled; she had an adorable habit of putting her hands on her hips whenever she became passionate. She could infuriate him like no one else could; she was arrogant and loud and fiery, while he was, well, _also_ arrogant, but quiet and cool, an opposite.

He also knew things about her, little things that he treasured like anything; that her favourite jellybean flavour was lemon, and that she preferred historical fiction to fantasy; that she liked Muggle novels almost as much as wizarding ones; that her least favourite time of the day was the morning and that she liked the feel of winter on her skin. She couldn't cook to save her life; she thought that chicken broth was gross and that tickling was just another form of creative torture.

It had taken him a year, a lifetime to admit that his sometimes-rival was not a rival anymore, but a lover; it had taken him a few months to make his first advance on her and another few months to patch it up. And then, there it had happened: their first kiss, honest, loving, pure; a victory.

They had been together for almost two years now, if Scorpius counted right; and they were both eighteen, nearing nineteen, and swell time for them to get married. He hadn't been too sure about it, but Uncle Theodore had advised him on it: when you close your eyes and picture ten, twenty years in the future with _her_ beside you, you know you've gotten yourself a keeper.

Scorpius reckoned that Uncle Theodore's reasoning was pretty accurate, because his uncle had been married for over twenty years.

And so he hesitantly raised a fist, and looked at the door once more; and then the sound of rapping resounded in the hallway as Scorpius Malfoy began knocking at Ron Weasley's door.

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><p><strong>Well, after the three angsty pieces for Abraxas, Lucius, and Draco, I did have to give Scorpius a lighter one, didn't I? <strong>

**Scorpius is one of my favourite Next Generation kids... I mean, there's only too much I can write about for the Weasley children - and Scorpius, well, he definitely has more problems. He's the last descendant of a long line of blood supremacists, for one, and his family is very probably counting on him for redeeming the name. Plus, with Lucius and Draco's affiliations and roles in the war, there's bound to be prejudice surrounding him. He has to go to school... with the kids of the men and women his family fought. And if he's too much of a blood supremacist, he'll be bullied for being a sucker-up. On the other hand, if he's a blood traitor, he'll be taunted at for being a misfit in his own family. **

**Poor Scorpius, count in that catch-22... :P **

**Well, you know the drill: please read and review, especially if you favourite/alert! **

**~Clicking on the Complete button~**


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